Governance and Civil Society

Building on the literature that analyzes the impact of norms and ideas on international and domestic politics, it is our assumption that the widespread introduction and dissemination of a human rights discourse enables oppressed groups to translate events into rights language and to appeal to courts, politicians and media in order to seek remedies for their grievances. In so far as human rights discourse actually helps introduce more ethical policies and legislation,it is crucial to understand how this discourse, which in the past 55 years evolved and proliferated on the global level,emerges and develops in domestic settings. Using Israel as a case study, and more specifically analyzing the Israeli press, we further develop
some of the existing theoretical claims about how the global and local interact.We argue that in order to understand how the rights discourse is imported into the domestic arena and how it expands once it enters the local scene,it is crucial to employ a broader conception of the global and a more differentiated view of the local.We emphasize the significance of local events and practices in determining the impact of the global on national settings, suggesting that one cannot understand transnational flows without unveiling the black box of the domestic arena.

Has development aid shaped the nature and growth of non-government organizations,( NGOs), in India?  Pushpa Sundar addresses this question and explores what difference, if any, it has made to the size, complexity, style of functioning, values
and future direction of the voluntary sector and the impact it has had on its relationship with government and business.

Przedmiotem rozdziału jest przegląd najnowszych ujęć teoretycznych i koncepcji demokracji uwzględniających współczesne realia, w tym funkcjonowanie Unii jako nowego porządku politycznego. Autorka zastosowała metodę porównawczą w ujęciu funkcjonalnym, dzięki której możliwe było określenie istoty społeczeństwa obywatelskiego poprzez wskazanie na jego zasadnicze cechy i wypełniane funkcje, ograniczając deskrypcję dostrzeganych różnic. Występuje wciąż wiele wątpliwości związanych z deficytem rozwiązań niezbędnych do prawidłowego funkcjonowania społeczeństwa obywatelskiego na ponadnarodowym poziomie. W staraniach opisania zasady demokratyzmu w Unii Europejskiej napotykamy trudności wynikające z niedostosowania teorii demokracji do specyficznego, złożonego mechanizmu podejmowania decyzji w UE.

Bob Thomson is the retired ex-founder and Managing Director (1994-2000) of Transfair Canada. He is currently working on a book on zero growth. Ian Hussey, a PhD student (Sociology, York University), was the founding co-director of the Canadian Students Fair Trade Network. Jean-Frédéric Lemay (Ph.D, anthropology) is researcher on trade and agriculture at the NGO, Équiterre (Montreal) and a postdoctoral researcher at the Université du Québec en Outaouais.

Presentation contributed to training session to strengthen the watchdog capacity of volunteers and journalists in Romania. The presentation uses data from a survey of Norwegian neighborhood to show various ways that NGOs can influence decision-making in local government.

"ABSTRACT
In an effort at theoretical clarification, the authors reviewed 45 recent articles reporting empirical research employing the concept of `social capital'. The literature is roughly equally divided between those who treat social capital as an independent variable and those who consider it as a dependent variable, and between those who operationalize the concept principally in terms of norms, values and attitudes and those
who choose a more social structural operationalization, invoking social networks, organizations and linkages. Work on social capital as a mainly normative variable is dominated by political scientists and economists, while sociologists and a wide range of applied social scientists utilize more social structural understandings of the term. We find little to recommend in the use of `social capital' to represent the norms, values and attitudes of the civic culture argument. We present empirical, methodological and theoretical arguments for the irrelevance of `generalized social trust', in particular, as a significant factor in the health of democracies or economic development. Social
structural interpretations of social capital, on the other hand, have demonstrated considerable capacity to draw attention to, and illuminate, the many ways in which social resources are made available to individuals and groups for individual or group benefit, which we take to be the prime focus and central attraction of the social capital concept. The paper concludes by elaborating a context-dependent conceptualization of social capital as access plus resources, and cautions against `over-networked' conceptualizations that equate social capital with access alone."

Kazakhstan was admitted as an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) candidate country on September 27, 2007. Since 2005, it has published seven EITI reports covering all material revenues and payments from oil, gas, and mining companies for eight consecutive years. There has been an incremental increase in company participation in Kazakhstan’s EITI reporting from 38 companies in 2005, to 103, 108, 109 and 123 companies in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively. In its latest 2013 EITI report, the number of companies that participated in the reporting reached 203. Total revenues collected in 2013 was over US $30 billion as documented in the report. Oil and gas revenues were responsible for 93% of the revenue from the sector, with mining accounting for the remaining 7%. Revenue from the extractives sector has steadily increased between 2005 and 2011 from around US $2.5bn to $38bn.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has recently made numerous commitments to engage civil society organizations (CSOs) in its governance practices. However, the opportunities created offer limited means for CSOs to contest policy as a result of strict controls over who can participate and the forms of participation permitted. Activists have consequently pursued their agendas outside of spaces sanctioned by ASEAN through ‘created spaces,’ such as conferences organized parallel to official summits. However, this form of political participation has limited potential to influence official processes because despite its independence, these activities are still structured in relation to ASEAN practices. The ineffectual nature of CSO advocacy despite ASEAN’s people-orientated shift has been documented, however explanations for this trend remain limited. This article applies the modes of political participation framework that acknowledges the role of intergovernmental organizations in structuring spaces for civil society participation and, in doing so, shaping the contribution that CSOs can make. Through an examination of the regulations and practices that govern CSO participation in both ASEAN-sanctioned and independent spaces, it argues that spaces for CSO participation are structured to prevent CSOs from contesting policy, suggesting that ASEAN’s shift to widen participation is directed towards legitimating its reform agenda. Hence, ASEAN’s claim of becoming ‘people oriented’ must be considered in recognition of the limiting effect its engagement practices have on CSOs’ ability to advance alternative agendas.

In an effort to carve a distinct place for social facts without lapsing into a holistic ontology, John Greenwood has sought to define social phenomena solely in terms of the attitudes held by the actor(s) in question. I argue that his proposal allows for the possibility of a “lone collectivity” that is (1) unpalatable in its own right and (2) incompatible with the claim that sociology is autonomous from psychology. As such, I conclude that the relevant beliefs need to be held by more than one person.

Transparency is one of the most important tools for stability in communities in general. The higher the level of transparency, the more the wheel of development can turn at an accelerated pace, since this involves public monitoring and accountability, two factors that determine growth and development.
The decline of transparency and the spread of corruption in Syria are two of the main factors that resulted in a social movement that began by demanding reform and ended by demanding the overthrow of the ruling power. This makes it necessary to discuss the issues of transparency and accountability as a culture, as well as a practice, in order to increase the level of transparency within the Syrian community.
This research aims to identify the reality of transparency within emerging Syrian non-governmental institutions, and to draw an image of the related strengths and weaknesses in order to produce suggestions and recommendations that will increase the level of transparency within the Syrian institutions that emerged after the protests in 2011.
This research can be considered exploratory. It collected data on 280 institutions, 23% of which were located outside Syria and 77% of which were in Syria. The institutions were dealt with in the research regardless of their type, form, geographic location or focus area(s). The research employed a short questionnaire as the main data collection tool. The questions fell into three main categories:
  The institutional structures that ensure transparency within the institution.  The relationship between the institution and their beneficiaries.  The relationship between the institution and other institutions.
Executive Summary:
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Of the most significant challenges that the field research team came up against was the precarious security situation, including shelling of civilian areas by the Syrian government, check points controlled by different armed
factions, and intense clashes on the ground. In addition, the displacement of surveyed groups, or even field team members, during the questionnaire distribution limited the team’s ability to access all of the targeted areas, and halted implementation of the questionnaires in some areas.
The main conclusion of the research is that the level of availability of the institutional structures that ensure transparency was good overall, with the exception of some elements. For example, the use of financial reports among the sample group did not exceed 25%, while the existence of bylaws did not exceed 15% of the surveyed institutions.
It was found that understanding of the need for a Board of Directors within the institutions was weak, as well as the mechanisms of formıng one or its duties and responsibilities. There was also a weakness in terms of institutions’ internal transparency in relation to their members and their knowledge of the basic elements of the institution including the members’ involvement in planning and decision-making.
As for the relationship with the target audience, there was found to be a weakness in publicizing the work of the institutions to the public, as well as in understanding why institutions should publicize their work. The research came up with a set of recommendations to donor organizations which can play a strong role in promoting the transparency of their partners, making the criteria of transparency one of the most important criteria they build into their partnerships.
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Recommendations to the nascent Syrian institutions themselves include the necessity of focusing on building the institutional structures that contribute to promoting transparency, and focusing on having and complying with
clear internal policies and procedures. Another recommendation to Syrian institutions is to include the target audience and partners in the planning process and in evaluating the work of the organization. Finally, it was recommended that organizations periodically publicize their projects, activities and financial reports in a clear and understandable way for everyone.

Naturalmente divisi. Storia e autonomia delle antiche comunità alpine
Vol. 2 | ISBN: 9788891111708 | Anno 2013

Nelle Alpi sono numerosi gli esempi di insiemi di comunità che, tramite privilegi e diplomi, sottolineano la propria identità rispetto ad altri territori. Il testo riporta 21 differenti saggi, tra cui: la Comunità di Valle Camonica, la Riviera bresciana del Garda, l’antica comunità di Scalve, la Valle Brembana oltre la Goggia, la Comunità di Valtellina, l’Escarton della Val Pragelato. Presentazione di Luigi Blanco.

The recent Italian reform of the Third Sector is expected to boost a big change in the history of the organizations of Italian civil society. This reform is not only the result of a long public debate and of a policymaking process that lasted three years. It is also the starting point of an implementation process which is expected to last for a long time in the next few years. This article outlines the main elements of this reform and points out some of its most important implications, in terms of relationship with the public welfare system, hybridization with the market environment and capacity of Third sector organizations to remain rooted in local communities and to engage ordinary citizens in its social activities.

La recente riforma del Terzo settore (L. n. 106 del 6 giugno 2016) costituisce un punto di arrivo di un mutamento del mondo associativo avvenuto negli ultimi decenni ma anche il punto di partenza di un processo attuativo che si produrrà nel corso dei prossimi anni. Il presente articolo presenta le caratteristiche salienti della riforma, ne indica alcune delle principali sfide aperte e opportunità e ne mette in luce alcuni possibili rischi, in particolare riguardo al rapporto con il welfare pubblico, al centralismo della governance del nuovo sistema e delle forme di rappresentanza. L'esito di questa sfida dipenderà da quanto gli attori istituzionali chiamati ad attuarla, in particolare governo centrale ed enti locali e quelli dello stesso Terzo settore, sapranno bilanciare il processo di ibridazione col mercato con il mantenimento del radicamento territoriale e culturale del Terzo settore.

During the last few years, some donor countries (especially the US and the UK) have been increasingly outsourcing services in post-conflict operations to international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) and private military and security companies (PMSCs). These states have also adopted ‘integrated approaches’ to their policy interventions, contributing to the emergence of an ‘aid and security market’. The article uses ideas from both development and defence studies and re-problematises the contracting states’ relationship with PMSCs and INGOs. It argues that although INGOs and PMSCs are very different types of non-state actors, there are striking similarities in outsourcing practices. Moreover, it demonstrates that the leading contracting states have poorly managed their contracts with both INGOs and PMSCs, and have not seriously reflected on the unintended consequences of their contracting practices on the recovery of war-affected countries.

In The Death Algorithm and Other Digital Dilemmas, Roberto Simanowski wonders if we are on the brink of a society that views social, political, and ethical challenges as technological problems that can be fixed with the right algorithm, the best data, or the fastest computer. For example, the “death algorithm ” is programmed into a driverless car to decide, in an emergency, whether to plow into a group of pedestrians, a mother and child, or a brick wall. Can such life-and-death decisions no longer be left to the individual human?

In these incisive essays, Simanowski asks us to consider what it means to be living in a time when the president of the United States declares the mainstream media to be an enemy of the people—while Facebook transforms the people into the enemy of mainstream media. Simanowski describes smartphone zombies (or “smombies”) who remove themselves from the physical world to the parallel universe of social media networks; calls on Adorno to help parse Trump's tweeting; considers transmedia cannibalism, as written text is transformed into a postliterate object; compares the economic and social effects of the sharing economy to a sixteen-wheeler running over a plastic bottle on the road; and explains why philosophy mat become the most important element in the automotive and technology industries.

This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (d) the case study contains a bias toward verification; and (e) it is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. This article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of a greater number of good case studies.

This paper seeks to make a contribution to the latest round of reform of the United Nations by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of Secretary General, Kofi Annnan's latest reform package 'In Larger Freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all'. More particularly Recommendation 162 dealing with the United Nations relationships with NGOs. It does this by evaluating the relationship between the UN and member states, the relationship between member states and civil society; and the formal and informal relationships between the UN and civil society.

Phronetic organizational research is an approach to the study of management and organizations focusing on ethics and power. It is based on a contemporary interpretation of the Aristotelian concept phronesis, usually as ‘prudence’. Phronesis is the ability to think and act in relation to values, to deliberate about ‘things that are good or bad for humans’ in the words of Aristotle (1976:1140a24–b12). Phronetic organizational research effectively provides answers to the following four value-rational questions, for specific problematics in management and organization studies: 1. Where are we going with this specific management problematic? 2. Who gains and who loses, and by which mechanisms of power? 3. Is this development desirable? 4. What, if anything, should we do about it?

Chap 1 (pages 1-24) excerpted from the book, Venezuela´s Polarized Politics:  The Paradox of Direct Democracy Under Chavez. Ana L.Mallen and Maria Pilar Garcia-Guadilla . First Forum Press. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. 2017.
How Participatory democracy led to profound polarization in Venezuela

Post-conflict knowledge and practice regarding effective governance reconstitution is still in its infancy; during conflict, it is even more minimal. In conflict-torn states, it is still debatable that state building has become synonymous to re-establishing governance -thus peace; and that civil society has become a protagonist in this process. More consensus, nevertheless, has been reached in literature regarding the yet limited capability to deal with conflict. One of the most alarming conflicts in modern history that requires such improved academic understanding during conflict itself is the Syrian case. Syria’s conflict presents complex governance dynamics and state building interests. Syria is witnessing the rise of both civil societies and extremist groups in the midst of civil wars, proxy wars and popular uprisings against authoritarianism.

This article aims to provide an insight into the yet misunderstood dynamics of governance during conflict, as it focuses on the non-government-controlled parts of Syria. The article pays particular attention to the agency of civil society vis-à-vis other local and international state building interests. It bases its analysis on a theoretical framework centred on the notion of “hybridity”. In two different sections, the article analyses the extent to which governance is a hybrid of, first, old and new governance imbalances and, second, of local and international forces. Governance imbalance is seen in light of the state-market-civil society developmental model. Meanwhile, the governance of local and international forces during conflict is measured following three dimensions: effectiveness, legitimacy and security. A third section is then dedicated to case studies of three non-government-controlled-areas in Syria: Al-Raqqa, Dair Ezzor and Aleppo. With a historical and contextual snapshot of the changing dynamics during conflict in these areas, this section studies the agency of civil society versus other more powerful governance actors on the ground. The cases are supported by data from an intensive qualitative and quantitative field research of over 6 months expanding until May 2014.

The research findings suggest that while the different factors, forces and interests in the Syrian conflict coexist and cooperate, both the old and the new, the grass-roots and the top-down, the civil and the uncivil governance become hybridised. The result, nonetheless, continues to derive unbalanced governance between the key actors in the state, civil society and market spheres. This necessitates a more holistic historical and contextual understanding of the continuously changing nature of governance during conflict. It requires better insight into the relationships and dynamics between the actors at the local and international levels. It also implies the need for better cooperation with local civil societies following an approach tailored more closely to their rights, motives, nature, needs and governance realities on the ground.

The Aalborg Project may be interpreted as a metaphor of modern politics, modern administration and planning, and of modernity itself. The basic idea of the project was comprehensive, coherent, and innovative, and it was based on rational and democratic argument. During implementation, however, when idea met reality, the play of Machiavellian princes, Nietzschean will to power, and Foucauldian rationality-as-rationalization resulted in the fragmentation of the project.

At the same time that case studies are widely used and have produced canonical texts, it may be observed that the case study as a methodology is generally held in low regard, or is simply ignored, within the academy. For example, only 2 of the 30 top-ranked U.S. graduate programs in political science require a dedicated graduate course in case study or qualitative methods, and a full third of these programs do not even offer such a course. In contrast, all of the top 30 programs offer courses in quantitative methods and almost all of them require training in such methods, often several courses. In identifying this paradox of the case study’s wide use and low regard, Gerring rightly remarks that the case study survives in a “curious methodological limbo,” and that the reason is that the method is poorly understood. In what follows, we will try to resolve Gerring’s paradox and help case study research gain wider use and acceptance.

The origin of civil society inCameroon dates back to the
1980s and 1990s with the root causes of its emergence
being the deepening economic crises, rising
unemployment and layoffs with the inability of the
government to provide jobs, meet up provision of basic
social services provision, more than 80% CFA Franc
devaluation, global pressure towards a more democratic
and open society and the enactment of laws of
associations, cooperatives and common initiatives groups
in the 90s.
It is within those dynamics that the network
North West Association of Development Organizations
(NWADO) was created. NWADO is made up of 27 civil
society organizations working in different domains of
development, effectively networking with each other to
enhance development processes in general. In one of
NWADO’s capacity building workshops in June 2008 on
advocacy, a thematic area of interest identified by the
members was on the legal framework of civil society
organizations in Cameroon, especially the laws on NGOs.
An important raison d’être of this interest was that over
the past decade many CSOs in the North West Region
had applied and not had status as NGOs under the
Cameroonian law especially with the release of a list of
15 as recognized NGOs by the Government of Cameroon
(Cameroon Tribune, December 2008). There is therefore
a need for advocacy campaigns lobbying the authorities
in charge of the legal framework of CSOs in Cameroon,
but before this CSOs need to understand the provisions
contained in the legal framework of CSOs in Cameroon.
In line with this the EU Support Programme for the
Structuring of CSOs (PASOC) financed by the 9th
European Development Fund offered support for the
production of this pamphlet to help CSOs understand the legal framework on CSOs in Cameroon with
emphasis on the creation and management principles
within the framework of NWADO’s project Enhancing
Public Visibility of CSOs in the North West Region of
Cameroon. This document is to serve as a working
document for CSOs in Cameroon and is dynamic in the
sense that the legal framework on CSOs in Cameroon
itself is dynamic.
The information contained in the pamphlet is an extract
from the legal text published by the government of
Cameroon and broad consultation of other pamphlets and
publications on the subject. Special thanks go to the
Second Assistant Senior Divisional Officer for Mezam
for taking time to review this pamphlet and for the
members of NWADO whose experiences contributed
greatly in the production of this pamphlet
This initiative is considered an important step in the
advocacy process for effective implementation of laws
on CSOs in Cameroon by CSOs themselves, as we
strongly believe information is power.

Abstract: The developmentalist gaze of the Fair Trade movement is on Global South producers. In this article we turn our analytic gaze toward North American fair traders to explore the racialized, neocolonial power relations in which these movement actors are implicated. Section One is a brief historical sketch of Fair Trade certification. We argue that the certification system is a multi-sited, global institution that is shaped by and shapes neocolonial power relations in Fair Trade by exploring the consolidation and more recent splintering of the international certification system. Section Two provides a postcolonial critique of developmentalism, with a focus on the timing of development, in order to lay a foundation for the remaining sections. In Section Three we analyze the spatiality of Fair Trade, with an emphasis on what and who are missing from or erased by the structural and conceptual frameworks of Fair Trade. In Section Four we explore the relationship between Fair Trade, commodity fetishism, and the developmentalist conception of space/time propagated by Fair Trade advocates. Section Five is a critical analysis of the neocolonialist and racist discourse of Fair Trade, with a focus on the “helping” discourse. We contend that as Global North fair traders strive to “help” Global South producers, they re-entrench neocolonial narratives of white supremacy and the desire to develop.

"In Civil Society and the State, Emil Brix, Jürgen Nautz, Werner Wutscher, Rita Trattnigg, eds. Vienna: Passagen Verlag, 2007, pp. 33-52.

This chapter attracts quite a few readers. Please see my chapter in Aronoff and Kubik, Anthropology and Political Science. A Convergent Approach. The chapter called WHAT CAN POLITICAL SCIENTISTS LEARN ABOUT CIVIL SOCIETY FROM ANTHROPOLOGISTS? is a much more developed and detailed exposition of my views civil society. I provide there a detailed definition and examine the relationship between civil society and the state. I also analyze the role of civil society in various types of political regimes.

This article focuses on ways in which refugee-led community organisations (RCOs) carve out a space of influence through civic activism in the migration architectures of receiving countries. Building on scholarship addressing migration governance and grassroots refugee organisations, it argues that RCOs have become vital in the refugees’ search for means to alleviate the sufferings of their fellows, to empower their community and claim rights for an improvement of their conditions. The notions of invented and invited spaces are convenient to describe opportunities, limitations and the ways of interactions encountered by emerging formal and informal RCOs. Drawing on qualitative data obtained from Syrian RCOs and governance actors in Turkey, the article demonstrates how increasing numbers of RCOs operate in the invited spaces opened by the state agencies and international donors. Only rarely, however, are RCOs able to invent spaces to change existing power relations, as Turkey’s political context categorically opposes rights-based advocacy of any marginalised group, and the national refugee governance is based on temporary protection. The findings can serve to analyse the dynamics of new refugee groups’ collective actions as well as their interactions with governance actors at transnational, national and local levels.

The papers of this book comprise the proceedings of the conference mentioned on the title and the cover page. They reflect the authors' opinions and, with the purpose of timely disseminations, are published as presented and without change. Their inclusion in these proceedings does no necessarily constitute endorsement by the editors. ISBN-10: 1-934272-23-X (Collection) ISBN-10: 1-934272-25-6 (Volume II) ISBN-13: 978-1-934272-23-7 (Collection) ISBN-13: 978-1-934272-25-1 (Volume II) COPYRIGHT Airola, Denise University of Arkansas USA

Could democracy have a 'secret' history? Most of us are familiar with a history of democracy that emphasises the keystone moments in the story of Western civilization: the achievements of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the more recent development of the British parliament, the American Declaration of Independence and the French Revolution, and the gradual global spread of democracy since the end of the Cold War. The central argument of this book is that there is much more to the history of democracy than this standard history admits. There is a whole secret history, too big, complex and insufficiently 'Western' in character to be included in common accounts.

In exploring The Secret History of Democracy, the contributors establish that democracy was developing in the Middle East, India and China before classical Athens, clung on during the 'Dark Ages' in Islam, Iceland and Venice, was often part of tribal life in Africa, North America and Australia, and has developed in unexpected ways through the grassroots activism of Muslims, feminists and technophiles.


"This exciting book surely enlivens and enriches our debate on democracy and its future by digging afresh oft-forgotten, yet most enlightening democratic experiences found in human history. "
- Takashi Inoguchi, Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo and President of the University of Niigata Prefecture, Japan

"The thought-provoking essays gathered in The Secret History of Democracy provide convincing evidence that democratic mechanisms have been invented many times and in many places, including times and places neglected in common accounts. This collection is a sobering reminder that democratic practices have often been succeeded by something else. But one also takes away a sense of the dynamic character of democratic history and the endless diversity of practices with some reasonable claim to embody democratic principles. As growing numbers wonder about what sorts of political institutions make sense in the face of the enormous problems confronting the twenty-first century, this demonstration of the long human history of political creativity gives some reason for hope."
-John Markoff, Professor, University of Pittsburgh, USA

"A fascinating, thought-provoking and well-informed survey of little-known "roots of democracy" and "proto-democratic" systems and movements across the globe , from ancient and "primitive" to modern societies. An eye-opener that forces us to differentiate more carefully and to rethink the history of democracy."
- Kurt Raaflaub, Emeritus Professor, Brown University, USA

In this paper we argue that the use of the communicative theory of Jürgen Habermas in planning theory is problematic because it hampers an understanding of how power shapes planning. We posit an alternative approach based on the power analytics of Michel Foucault which focuses on ‘what is actually done’, as opposed to Habermas’s focus on ‘what should be done’. We discuss how the Foucauldian stance problematises planning, asking difficult questions about the treatment of legitimacy, rationality, knowledge and spatiality. We conclude that Foucault offers a type of analytic planning theory which offers better prospects than does Habermas for those interested in understanding and bringing about democratic social change through planning.

Este trabajo analiza la bibliografía sobre los recursos naturales y el medio ambiente en la República Dominicana, desde una perspectiva histórica. Se examinan los procesos de degradación ambiental y las preocupaciones de los sectores estatales y privados alrededor de la temática.